Udinese lined up largely as expected – Francesco Guidolin was without various players because of the Africa Cup of Nations, plus Giampiero Pinzi through injury.

The sides played in a similar fashion but Juve were clearly the better side, able to offer a threat after long spells of possession, whereas Udinese were too reliant upon counter-attacking.

Early stages

Nevertheless, this was a game dominated by playing on the break, as Marcelo Estigarribia, Matri and Di Natale all had one-on-one chances on the counter. Both sides played three at the back with five midfielders ahead, though there were differences in the way they played upfront. Udinese were 3-1-4-1-1, with Gelson Fernandes sitting deep as a spare man in front of the defence, and Almen Abdi playing as the attacking midfielder. Juve were roughly the same, with the first key difference being the use of Fabio Quagliarella, a second striker rather than an attacking midfielder.

The second key difference was more important. Andrea Pirlo played in roughly the same position as Fernandes, but is clearly a different type of player – he’s a deep-lying regista who controls the game and prompts attacking moves. As a result, the main impact of his presence was to force Abdi deeper to pick him up without the ball, leaving Antonio Di Natale against three defenders by himself. He spent the game, as usual, drawing wide to find space, but Juve’s outside centre-backs were happy to follow him out there.

Juventus possession

The knock-on effect of the 3 v 1 situation, especially with Di Natale moving to the left, was that Giorgio Chiellini could move forward on the ball. He probably didn’t do this enough early on, but gradually started to force Udinese – particularly Mauricio Isla – forward to close him down, leaving space between the lines, especially when Fernandes then had to step forward to close down Emanuele Giaccherini. This gave Juve more fluidity when in possession.

The key tactical decision was a poor one from Guidolin. Abdi hadn’t been very effective going forward, so Guidolin decided to switch him and Pablo Armero after 25 minutes, presumably to give more drive on the break – Armero is a great runner with the ball. But the Colombian wasn’t as good as Abdi at tracking Pirlo – in fact, it looked like he either couldn’t be bothered or had been told not to. As a result, for the final 15 minutes of the first half Juve were dominant in terms of possession and clever on the ball too, with Pirlo instrumental in their spell of pressure. They went ahead on the stroke of half time.

Second half

Guidolin then changed things again, removing Abdi completely with Antonio Floro Flores on in his place. Armero moved back to his starting position. This was better – Floro Flores tracked Pirlo when out of possession, but also sprinted past him when Udinese won the ball. This worked out perfectly for the goal – Floro Flores first prevented a pass into Pirlo, and then when the alternative pass went astray and Isla intercepted, he got himself into a goalscoring position to equalise.

But that was the only way Udinese were going to score – their players, even Di Natale, all specialise on the break. Juve had Matri, who created a goal from nothing by getting the ball with his back to goal, rolling the defender then steering the ball into the far corner. Juve could be a threat, even with the opposition defence all in position.

The goal also owed much to a clever flick from Marchisio, who had just replaced Quagliarella. Marchisio is clearly a deeper player naturally, and so this worked very well for Juventus – as soon as they re-took the lead, they could use Marchisio as a number ten ahead of the midfield to retain possession. The sides had essentially switched formations – Udinese started with a forward and a number ten but went to two forwards, Juve had done the opposite.

Juve shut the match down

And with Marchisio playing deeper, Juve retained the ball excellently. Udinese aren’t accustomed to closing down and winning the ball high up, and seemed confused about how they were meant to do it. Pirlo was being left free more and more, which meant either Isla or Armero moved towards him. That left their man (Giaccherini or Arturo Vidal) free, which forced Fernandes higher up, which then left Marchisio free and the back three were reluctant to come out.

Eventually Guidolin sacrificed the back three, bringing on midfielder Cristian Battochio for Domizzi. They switched to more of a 4-4-2 – Giovanni Pasquale and Dusan Basta dropped in, with Armero and Isla wide in midfield, and Battochio joining Fernandes in the middle. It was numerically the right approach, but Pasquale and Basta moved too deep – really they needed to continue the pressure in midfield and leave 2 v 1 at the back – almost line up in a 2-6-2 formation.

Instead they stood off, let Juve play and never looked likely to come back. Yet again, it was an example of a counter-attacking side looking lost when they had to chase the game.

Conclusion

Two main factors here – first, the fact that Juve were more capable in possession, which basically comes down to having both a better playmaker (Pirlo) and more of an all-round striker (Matri).

Second, the battle concerning Pirlo – Abdi, Armero and Floro Flores all had a go, with varying levels of success.

Juventus were highly impressive yet again – Conte changed his shape, but Juventus looked comfortable. In a battle of similar systems, it was Juve, rather than Udinese, who looked as if they’d been playing this way all season.

Fascinating game, really seems like Conte has found a Plan B of sorts to play against specific opponents (3man def of udinese and Napoli)… I don’t think he would play such a Plan B against 4man def though, but who knows… Also, I wonder if he would switch from a 4man def to a 3man def mid game as a Plan B if the Plan A isn’t working against certain opponents…

Great win for us again, and Conte continues to surprises everyone with his incredible tactical intelligence. Thanks for a covering us!

Points from the game:
1/ I thought Di natale worked his socks off, trying to pressure a 3 man defense, though couldnt quite manage it. But he wasnt supported at all in the game and his good play was wasted.

2/ Chiellini moving forward was vital, as ZM pointed out, and it was the fact he is also a capable LB that meant he could be a threat further forward, which lead to him getting attention and creating space elsewhere. Chiellini was perfect for this position and I think every 3 man defense needs to have one CB that is capable of moving out of defense into midfield. Notably Udinese didn’t do this!

4/ This game showed both Pirlo’s strengths and weaknesses, He controlled the game when left in space with time on the ball and probably won them the game at the end when he allowed Juventus to dominate (Good comparison with Scholes aboth). But his weaknesses were also shown for the goal; when pressed his passing isnt as good, his positioning means he can easily be marked out of the game, and he cant tackle and track runs very well (when up against a pace attacking midfielder he isnt very good defensively) he needs a Gattusso partner to help him out, but Vidal played quite high up the pitch.

5/Udinese were poor in deep midfield and defense. In midfield they were somehow pushed back deeper by a 2 man midfield up against there 3 man midfield. Isla in particular was disappointing, he should have pushed forward knowing his midfield team mates could hold the fort, and try and outnumber Pirlo. While in defense there 3 men were occupied well by Matri and Quag, both players movement disturbed the defense and both were a threat. Marchisio came on and arguably did better, dropping deeper then making late runs past the defense which really upset the defense, while he helped the midfield keep possession excellently at the end of the game.

draco on January 31, 2012 at 9:51 am

Pirlo and Scholes comparision is very good but is Scholes passing as bad as Pirlo’s when he is pressured? Physical players like Cabaye may muscle out players like Carrick(not comparing with Pirlo) but Scholes is seldom marked out of a game.

kane prior on January 31, 2012 at 10:31 am

Scholes better under pressure, he has to be in the premier league. But Pirlo is the better passer, when not under pressure. Both cant tackle, but i do think your right, Scholes is a lot better at finding space than Pirlo, so not so easily marked out of the game

Juventus had the better and deeper squad by far as does generally happen when you have £100M more to spend. Even worse, Udinese is missing two key midfield players in Asamoah and Badu; they played two natural wing-backs in Armero and Isla in the middle for this game.

The “Little Zebras” hold a special place in my heart but sadly they just can’t expect to follow up on their success from last season with the resources they (don’t) have.

kaneprior on January 29, 2012 at 9:17 pm

where did you get 100 million from your numbers?

yossarian on January 29, 2012 at 10:30 pm

He’s saying juve spent £60 million more than they received, but udinese received £40 million more than they spent. Which is a difference of 40-(-60)=100 million.

kane prior on January 31, 2012 at 10:34 am

ah didnt see the net expenditure, but net transfers doesnt automatically mean how much you recieve?

should have worded it: Udinese made a net profit of 40mil on transfers, and Juventus made a loss of 60 mil on transfer expenditure

I was wondering that too pal but the world is like full of idiots busting in websites saying all this nonsense. Elwood’s right-just ignore him.

qaz on January 30, 2012 at 2:45 am

This year Juventus seem to be very adaptable to different formations: 4-4-2, 4-1-4-1 and 3-5-2 which Conte seems to be using against teams with 3-man defenses and wingbacks such as Napoli and Udinese, and after drawing the 1st round matches against those two sides they seem to have improved in this particular formation getting the win this time around, being much more effective in possession. Pirlo was an amazing signing, the guy’s vision and skill is still top notch. Udinese don’t seem to be able to take the initiative when they are behind… well they don’t have a Pirlo.

First off Pablo Armero cover more ground quicker than anyone in Football.

Juve is really starting to remind of Barcelona, I think that really would be the case if they sign Naggolian and try him in front of the defense. Juventus have an advantage because they only need to play with one striker. However it would be interesting to see them play this way with Marchisio added to the Midfield and Qags as he only striker.

Where is Ella, wasn’t he supposed to be good?

Michael on January 31, 2012 at 6:47 am

Only the first time I have seen Juve this year, and despite absolute horrible conditions the crispness of their passing was as good as any team I have seen this year. Very impressed by Juve, just an extremely sound fundamental team (agree with FCR in that respect to the Barca comparison). Conte’s hat was ridiculous too by the way!

I just wanted to point out that the “Sacchi effect” is over and half Serie A is now playing with a three men defense. Juve, Roma (Juan, De Rossi, Heinze), Fiorentina, Napoli, Parma, Cesena, Udinese, Bologna, Lecce, Catania (and Gasperini’s Inter, at the beginning of the campaign).

Add Guardiola and Bielsa, then ask yourself: “Will it be the tactical innovation of 2012? Perhaps even of this decade?”
We’ll see in Poland and Ukraine, I guess.

J— on February 1, 2012 at 2:16 pm

Juventus at Parma snowed out! I was looking forward to that one.

AB on February 2, 2012 at 5:40 am

In American amateur soccer, this is the most common formation. It is known as the diamond defense — sweeper, stopper, and a left and right defender.

Pirlo would never be played as a stopper in America.

AnArsenalFan on February 3, 2012 at 2:50 pm

I’m liking this team and especially in this game. That backbone of Buffon-Chiellini-Bonucci-Barzagli-Pirlo is so formidably Italian, I can wax nostalgic about it. In other words, there is just something nice about seeing an Italian team’s defense and midfield staffed by Italians.